As reports of air passengers with disabilities being mistreated made headlines, the NDP has passed a motion to call the CEOs of Air Canada and WestJet, the transport minister and other government officials to testify before a parliamentary committee.
“Instances of discrimination are not rare for passengers with disabilities. In the past several weeks alone, there have been numerous high-profile stories of passengers with disabilities being mistreated on Air Canada flights, one in which a person’s wheelchair was lost by the airline, one in which the person was dropped repeatedly by staff when they denied using a lift to move him,” said NDP transport critic Taylor Bachrach.
WestJet also found itself in the news for the same reasons, when Paralympian Sarah Morris-Probert revealed how she had to lift herself step by step into a plane because the wheelchair ramp was not deployed.
While both airlines apologized for incidents and vowed to do better, Bagrach said the government must ensure such a thing never happens again.
“We’ve heard apologies, we’ve heard commitments to do better, but the government is in a position to ensure this never happens again by strengthening the regulations governing airlines and other parts of the air transport sector,” said Bachrach. “We hope the committee’s hearings will shed light on the specific changes that are needed.”
On Monday, Bachrach’s motion unanimously passed at Transport committee to call the CEOs of Air Canada and WestJet, the Minister of Transport and other government officials to testify before the committee in a study of inaccessibility within the air sector.
NDP disability and inclusion critic Bonita Zarrillo passed a similar motion at the Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities on November 8 to call the CEO of Air Canada to answer for several recent violations related to persons with disabilities, including an instance when a passenger had to drag himself off an Air Canada flight after being refused a wheelchair. Air Canada later admitted its actions violated Canada’s disability regulations.
“No one should be forced to drag themselves off a plane because the airline doesn’t have the equipment, or staff trained, to keep passengers safe,” said Zarrillo. “We need to see real accountability with these airlines and since the Liberal government isn’t stepping up, New Democrats are.”
